Last night was Noche Buena, which is not my favorite holiday of the year (that's Thanksgiving, because I was raised bireligional and Thanksgiving's about the only thing everyone agrees on; as much as internet drama is one of my fandoms, I am not down with family drama on holidays), but is a very close second because we always celebrate it with the family we have chosen, not the one we cannot escape. Last night was lechon (but chicken for me) and yuca and rice and beans and arepas and tres leches and flan and something that wasn't pan de bono, but was the Brazilian version of it, a little less sweet. The one downside was how horribly sick I got at the end, to the point where I nearly spent the night in the bathroom rather than in bed. But I got sleep and then my mother presented me with a new lens for my camera and we gave my cat her present and then it was time to eat and I think we're going to my grandparents' for dinner.

And, yes, today is Christmas, so a merry that to you and a happy Hanukkah because that's still going down, which means Yuletide. I read so much this morning, but here are the ones I especially liked.

( cut because these things get long, hot damn )